As goes CBS Radio News, so goes the idea that news media should serve the public interest

When CBS Radio News goes silent on May 22, 2026 , Americans will lose access to news programming they’ve tuned into from their living rooms, kitchens and cars for nearly a century. The once-bipartisan idea that the nation’s media should exist to serve democracy continues to fade with it, too. As a media historian , I think the story of CBS Radio News’ rise and fall cannot be told without telling another parallel story: the story of how the U.S. stopped demanding that media serve the public interest. When CBS was born in 1927 , radio was ascendant, and this new form of mass communication was spurring vibrant discussions about how media could better serve democracy. Americans had already seen how concentrated wealth during the Gilded Age had tilted the news ecosystem by overemphasizing the concerns of the rich while glossing over inequality, graft and corruption. World War I further demonstrated the power of mass media to shape public opinion through propaganda, reinforcing calls for democratic oversight of broadcasting. Just how to regulate radio was up for debate. But there was broad consensus across party lines that government could play a role in protecting the public from concentrated media power and, with it, foreign misinformation, bad-faith special interest messaging or fraudulent advertising. The formative years CBS radio traces its origins to the United Independent Broadcasters, a network of 16 local stations founded by music manager Arthur L. Judson. When Columbia Records bought a stake, it was renamed the Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System. Early broadcasts simply involved announcers reading short breaking-news dispatches distributed by the United Press wire service. Within months, Columbia sold its share to investors including William S. Paley , who streamlined the name to CBS . Paley was no public media crusader. He was a businessman who wanted radio to turn a profit. But his management reflected a belief that radio could serve two masters: the public interest and advertisers. He hired journalist Paul J. White to run the news division and created a regular news segment called “ Something for Everyone .” Though they differed on how best to achieve it, Democrats and Republicans agreed that radio ought to serve the public interest . In other words, because the airwaves belonged to all Americans, broadcasters had obligations beyond profit. They needed to provide reliable information, platform diverse viewpoints and cover matters of public concern. In the 1920s, then-Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover was charged with formulating federal radio policy. Though he was a staunch, pro-business conservative, Hoover was also an engineer who thought that the radio system should be “free of monopoly” and, like any machine, could be gradually improved so it would better serve democracy . “The ether is a public medium, and its use must be for the public benefit,” he said in November 1925 . Republican President Calvin Coolidge signed the Radio Act of 1927 into law. Passed with overwhelming support, it required radio stations to demonstrate a commitment to “public interest, convenience and necessity” in order to receive a license. Forging the public’s trust By the time the 1934 Communications Act created the Federal Communications Commission , a regulatory agency tasked with licensing broadcasters and enforcing ownership rules, the idea that radio should serve the public had been normalized . In 1935, Paley made Edward R. Murrow – the man most associated with CBS Radio’s public service mission – head of news programming. With fascism threatening democracy across Europe, Murrow launched “World News Roundup” in 1938. The longest-running news program in American media , it featured live reports transmitted by shortwave from locations around the world. American audiences huddled around their radios nightly to hear CBS’ reports, which showed how live news could unite a nation and cultivate a richer information ecosystem than the uniform propaganda of Europe’s fascist strongmen. CBS’ gripping coverage of World War II solidified its importance as an American institution . Murrow’s signature tag lines – “this is London” and, later, “ good night and good luck ” – helped forge the public’s trust in CBS’ reliable and informative programming. The dangers of delusion and amusement After the war, television challenged radio’s dominance . Paley understood that Murrow had built a deep trust among listeners, and he put him in charge of CBS News as the network expanded its programming to TV. Yet Murrow grew uneasy with shifts in the network’s coverage, which, in his view, increasingly served the economic interests of its owners.